Hi everyone, this is Klaus.
Almost everyone in China browses Weibo.
Today let’s download this app and browse it as a guest,
and see what Weibo will recommend to us.
Okay, let's open the app, which immediately shoves this ad down your throat.
Nationalism, such as boycotting imported goods, has become a trend in the past few years.
Many domestic brands are making a fortune in the name of patriotism.
Okay, we're in. The first post says,
“14-year-old girl saved 17,000 yuan pocket money for her mother to pay house rent.
On May 7, in Nantong, Jiangsu, Ms. Zhao ran out of money after paying the house loan,
so she borrowed money from her daughter to pay the rent.
Then her daughter took out 17,000 yuan.
The girl was at first reluctant but relented after Ms. Zhao promised to pay back twice the amount.
Having borrowed the money, the mother was ecstatic.”
Back in the days of the Cultural Revolution, there was leftist or rightist news.
Today, there are news stories with “positive energy” or “negative energy”.
If you are not Chinese, you might not understand.
This particular news story is obviously a positive-energy event.
Let's look at the comments from netizens. Here are the top three comments.
“The mom had better make good on her promise and not lie to the kid.”
“I hope the mother will keep that promise.”
“Adults are such liars.”
China’s family education is about two things, beating the children and coaxing them.
Coaxing basically means lying to them.
The Chinese lack the spirit of contract, due to being fooled by parents since childhood.
You borrow money from your kid to pay the rent, and then brag about it?
I would feel ashamed if I were you.
“Like if you don't have 17,000 yuan in savings now.” The comment received 1,400 likes.
It seems that many Chinese people don’t even have 17,000 yuan in savings.
“It’s better to be fooled and learn a lesson at a young age.”
“A 14-year-old is richer than me. I’ve lived all these years in vain.”
“Child, listen to me, forget the money. Let it go. The money isn’t coming back anyway.”
“Such a calculative family. What a joke.”
“I thought about my monthly salary of 1000 yuan, and fell into deep thoughts.”
The comment section of this positive-energy news story is a trainwreck.
The people are not swallowing CCP propaganda.
So, how to tell whether a news story is positive-energy or negative-energy?
Well, you'd have to be well-versed in Chinese propaganda.
Let’s continue. This is a self-media account.
“A bigger fish has surfaced at the AZST steel plant.”
It says the Russians have captured Biden's son, Hunter, at the steel plant.
Let's read the comments.
“Sounds almost real.”
"There must be something important underground."
"I hope Biden's son is trapped in the steel plant."
“Inside the steel plant, there must be evidence of US and Ukrainian crimes against humanity.”
“I support Putin and hope he will teach the Western powers a lesson.”
“Have you nothing better to do than reposting Russian official propaganda nonsense all day long?”
“Always find a reason for failure. Every failure is a big chess game. Haha.”
“If this turns out to be fake news, will you take responsibility for spreading rumors?”
We can see that the Chinese are very divided in terms of the Russian-Ukrainian war.
The two sides are living in completely different worlds, but in the same country.
Okay, here's an ad for US Lincoln Continentals.
It's not even a Chinese product. What happened to nationalism? Yikes!
In fact, the Chinese are not stupid. They only support domestic products such as clothing.
They know that quality high-tech products have to be imported.
A netizen says that after serving in Tibet for 27 years, he faces three options.
One of them is being reinstated with 4 million yuan attached.
Let’s just stop there. At first glance, it looks like a news story.
It is in fact a military recruitment ad.
China's military recruitment ads these days are devoid of moral compass.
Here is another topic. “Most patients suffering from depression are good kids.”
This reminds me of a recent comment I've read,
“24.6% of Chinese teenagers are detected to be suffering from depression.
I think these teenagers are not patriotic enough.
When normal teenagers think about their beautiful motherland,
about how powerful China is, their depression will immediately be swept away,
unlikely to develop into a depressive disorder. We should strengthen patriotic education.”
I almost died laughing.
Here’s another news story. “J & J secretly shut down their vaccine factory.
Tens of millions of doses of vaccines have been disposed of.”
There aren’t many comments, so we will not read it.
This is Reference News, China’s state media.
“Zelenski Sets New Terms for Peace Talks.
According to the Washington Post on May 6,
Ukraine laid out peace-talk demands as the Russia-Ukraine conflict seemed likely to escalate.“
China is an amazing country.
On the one hand, the Chinese believe that foreign media is all fake news.
On the other hand, China’s state media is particularly fond of quoting foreign media.
If a news report condemns China, then it’s a foreign attempt to smear China so it must be false.
If something bad is said about foreign nations, it means the foreigners themselves have admitted, so of course, it is true.
It takes a brain with decades of schizophrenic history to digest such contradictory information.
Let's look at the comments.
“He must be on drugs.”
“Judging by his tone, I thought Moscow had been surrounded.
Accept those terms or die.”
“This guy is quite childish."
"This actor is playing so many roles. Does he never tire?”
“I must be hallucinating. Ukraine is a former Soviet territory.
It's not up to Zelensky."
"He must be delirious after Russia gave him a good beating.”
Unlike those comments under the previously mentioned self-media post,
comments below the state media post are universally pro-Russia.
By contrast, you can hear different voices under the self-media post.
“How to avoid drowning when you don’t swim.” We won’t analyze this post.
“13-year-old boy lives alone for 66 days fattening himself and his pets while his parents are in lockdown.
On May 6, in Suzhou, Jiangsu, Ms. Zhu and her husband were stuck in Shanghai.
Their 13-year-old son stayed home alone for 66 days.
He attended school online, did his homework, and also took great care of his pet cat and dog.”
OK, question: is this a positive- or negative-energy story?
This question is super easy. You have three seconds.
Yep, it's obviously a positive-energy story.
Let's look at the comments.
“Now I can see why cooking will be a part of their curriculum in September.”
This netizen is talking about the new regulations by the Chinese Ministry of Education.
Starting this fall, Chinese students will need to learn to wash clothes, cook and garden.
Sounds like a return to Maoism, when the youth were assigned to the countryside.
"A crime against humanity glorified as something splendid."
"Laughable, isn’t it? That this kind of thing is being promoted."
“Letting a minor live alone like that is a f*cking crime and a dereliction of duty!”
“Don't forget the irrationality of leaving a child alone at home.
This is not a social phenomenon that deserves a happy discussion."
"Why not let the parents come back?"
"Why is this story reported and promoted as a positive-energy event?”
This news report is not by the state media and is not politically driven.
Thus, there is no online admin (and Wumao) monitoring the comment section.
Comments under such posts easily become non-CCP-friendly.
Here's another post. “I’ve a friend who is head of office at a Shenzhen branch of a bank.
This afternoon while having tea, he told me some shocking numbers.
1. They give loans to many industrial parks in the Pearl River Delta,
and ask them to provide data every year
showing changes of the enterprises within.
Data shows that 70% of the enterprises have moved out or closed down in the past five years,
while only 10% of the enterprises have remained.
2. There are many times more businesses unable to repay their loans.
There are business loans, mortgage loans and all kinds of credit loans.
3. The number of foreclosed properties will increase dramatically in the future.
For those unable to pay mortgages, auction day won’t arrive for another two years.
4. Now there are many times more foreclosed properties than before.
Now, e-retailers like JD and Tao Bao are not showing quantities anymore.
Do not think that this year’s pandemic has caused this.
These properties put up for auction are from those failing to pay loans two years ago.
That is to say, the bank's bad debt ratio, due to unpaid corporate and personal mortgages,
has begun to show since two or three years ago, and was merely exacerbated by the pandemic..."
Courtesy of the Accelerator-in-Chief, of course.
"Economic prosperity cannot be achieved without financial means.
The bank is like the duck. It’s the first to know when the river is warm in spring.
I don't know how long it will take before the economy recovers."
Positive energy or negative energy? This is too simple. Of course, negative energy.
That’s why the comment section is closed. No more discussion.
I’m not interested in China’s entertainment industry, which is as dirty as China’s politics.
A flight attendant was fired for posting underwear photos in the plane lavatory while on duty. What the heck!
Wow, look at this guy’s profile photo. Zhao Lijian seems to be having fun.
“European lawmakers bravely expose US war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
It’s got over 500,000 views but only 600 comments?
Even my videos with 10,000 views have over 600 comments.
This comment section is censored!
“Freedom of the press is a big joke.
Freedom of the press means putting America first.
It means America’s sordid history can't be exposed."
"Where is the so-called freedom of the press in the US now?
Now they’re angry and frustrated because the truth has been uncovered."
"Their freedom of the press is a joke now. They’re such hypocrites.”
There is only one such voice in the comments.
All other voices are deemed inappropriate and have been censored.
Only one voice is allowed when calling the US devoid of freedom of the press.
Surreal, isn’t it?
Well, let’s just stop there.
After everything we’ve seen, I’m sure you can realize that
information from China’s censored Internet can only be digested by the schizophrenic.
This is what life of a normal Chinese netizen might look like:
Condemning “hell” that is the US, before complaining about the house loan.
Singing China’s praises, “Awesome China!”,
before being dragged away into quarantine,
leaving their children unattended.
I guess that’s why China’s ultra-nationalists are considered schizophrenic.
Okay, time to hear your comments.
In our last episode, we analyzed why China doesn't want the pandemic to end.
Netizen Sylar Lin said,
“Chinese jingoists: The test kits are inaccurate, so we need to do it manually.
Me: You mean China has been exporting subpar products to deceive people?
Chinese jingoists: Anyway, mass-testing is necessary.”
Netizen Simon Saul said,
“The book Zuo Zhuan says, ‘If Qing Fu doesn’t die, Lu’s disaster will not end’,
an accurate prophecy for the present, over 2,000 years later,
because Qing Fu is like Qing Feng (Xi Jinping).”
Well, that's it for this video.
Like, subscribe, comment and share!
This is Klaus. See you next time.